Surviving
by Spikefan77
Summary: What if Cecilia survived the attack by Brynn and Connor McClean? What if Josh was the one to save her and felt responsibility for her involvement? The events of one terrible full moon proves to be a turning point in the lives of one vampire and one werewolf. Completely AU. One Shot.


Josh stared down at the woman on the bed. It was hard to believe that two weeks had gone by since the last disastrous full moon. During that terrible night, and for days prior, she had been brutalized and tortured by a pair of pure blood, werewolf twins. Say what you might about vampires, their physiology could not be beat. As his gaze travelled down the parts of her body he could see above the blanket covering her, from from her close cropped dark hair, to the swell of full breasts, there was not even one bruise marring her dark chocolate flesh. Remarkable, nevertheless, it had taken weeks for her broken body to mend itself.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Josh was startled out of his reverie and looked up to find hazel eyes focused on him. He took a hesitant step into the room, not wanting to threaten her.

"Are you okay? If you're... thirsty I can get you something from Aiden's stash..."

Cecilia shook her head, sitting up with a groan that had Josh rushing to her side to offer... comfort? Aid? It was his fault she had suffered as she had, she probably didn't want him anywhere near her. He forced himself to keep his distance.

"I'm so sorry."

Cecilia raised a brow and actually smiled at him.

"Really? What for? Saving my ass when Aiden took off? We both knew he had no choice, if he had tried to carry me they would have gotten us both. But if you hadn't stopped the feeding frenzy..."

She shuddered and her mind flashed back to her attack. The low growl of approaching wolves, their hot breath ghosting over her flesh before they tore into her... Josh noticed her discomfort and pulled the thin blanket covering her up a bit.

"They would never have gotten their hands on you If I hadn't involved you... sent you after them... Aiden warned me but I was so concerned about Nora that I didn't think, didn't listen..."

To his surprise, Cecilia took his hand. His surprised eyes clashed with hers before she spoke again.

"There's enough blame for everyone. I was arrogant and foolish, you were desperate. I'm pretty sure we both learned our lesson. The best thing to do now is move past it and get on with the rest of our lives."

Hours later, Josh was jerked out of a restless sleep by a bloodcurdling scream. Without conscious thought, in the space between one heartbeat and the next, he was out of his bed, sprinting down the hall and wrenching open the door to the room in which Cecilia was recovering. The slender vampiress was sitting up in bed, arms wrapped around herself as she gasped for breath. When Josh moved closer he could see the tracks of bloody tears coursing down her cheeks. He didn't hesitate before taking her into his arms and rocking her gently against his bare chest. It broke his heart to see this strong woman, who had faced two werewolves without fear, trembling in his arms. He knew it was all his fault.

Cecilia would not have believed that vampires could have nightmares until she was trapped in the grip of one. Suddenly she was back in that dark forest, too weak from the beatings and the blood loss to defend herself as she was set upon by a pack of ravenous wolves. She felt every rip and tear of her flesh and was powerless to get away. All she could do was scream until her throat was raw.

Josh held Cecilia until she practically passed out from exhaustion then he was loathe to release her. Even though she was a vampire she seemed so fragile in his arms. It was clear that Brynn and Connor Mclean had done a real number on her and whether or not she was willing to admit it, it would not be easy for her to "move past it" and "get on with the rest" of her life.

"Do you think she's going to be alright?"

Sally's worried voice came from the doorway and Josh shrugged, not bothering to look away from Cecilia's weary features.

"I don't know... But I'm responsible for her condition..."

"Josh..."

His voice was harsh as he interrupted her.

"Just drop it, Sally! Vampire or not she was hurt because of _my _actions and I'm not just gonna turn my back on her while she suffers alone."

Aiden was surprised the following morning when he came in from working the night shift and found Cecilia sitting on the couch. She looked absolutely normal, dressed in one of Josh's old sweatsuits. Both knees were drawn up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them as she listened to Sally who was seated across from her. He walked into the room and sat beside her.

"Glad to see you up and about, Cecilia. You look better."

She actually laughed, but it was a bitter sound, devoid of anything even approaching humor.

"I suppose anything is better than ripped to shreds by wild dogs. Thanks for letting me lick my wounds here by the way."

Aiden shook his head.

"Of course you're welcome here. Suren has said that you may take as much time as you need to recover..."

Cecilia smiled tightly.

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she believes I am completely useless right now."

Josh appeared in the doorway carrying a mug that he wasted no time in bringing to her. She smiled at him as she took the cup and he sat on her other side.

"You're not useless. You just need a little more time..."

She took a sip from the cup, made a face and set it aside, getting to her feet.

"Time I don't have. I'm not one to lay around wallowing in a pool of self pity. I'm heading to the Precinct now and you can tell Suren I will be back on active duty by tonight."

Cecilia had been through a lot. Abusive parents, a couple tours in the Army, a police force that wanted to see her fail because she was Black _and _a woman. However, none of that was as hard as her first night back patrolling the streets. She had convinced herself that she was better but she knew now that she was a liar. As she sat alone in her cruiser the fear she had felt when the wolves overpowered her and began their torture returned tenfold. She was frozen in terror, reliving every second and too paralyzed to even scream. Her hands were clenched so hard her nails cut crescent shaped sigils into her flesh.

Josh had done a pretty good job avoiding Nora in the two weeks since the full moon. For the first few days he had used sick days, citing an injured relative that he needed to take care of. It wasn't a complete lie, Cecilia might not be a relative but she _had _needed his care, and he had a great record. When he returned he had been reassigned to another floor and had just been lucky. Today his luck ran out.

He knew it was her before the door to the supply room closed completely and cursed silently as he turned around to face her. Of course his heart leapt and sped up. She still looked like his Nora. Her blonde hair fell easily around her shoulders while her blue eyes sparkled and looked at him so earnestly. But he couldn't get the image of Cecilia's broken body and spirit out of his mind.

"You've been avoiding me."

He shrugged.

"I was out for a few days then they moved me to this floor."

"So it wasn't intentional?"

Josh shook his head.

"Are you sorry?"

Nora's head cocked to the side as she studied him and Josh couldn't help but feel that every day she lost a little more of her humanity.

"Why would I be sorry? We did what came naturally. If the vampires fear us now all the better because Brynn wants vengeance for her brother."

Josh scoffed.

"Brynn may believe herself to be invincible because she's a purebred wanna be full time wolf, but starting a war with the vampires is suicide."

Nora laughed.

"That chew toy we played with the other night wasn't much of a challenge so forgive me if I am a bit underwhelmed."

The silence was deafening. Josh shook his head again, making no effort to hide the disgust on his face.

"I can't believe you just said that. The Nora I loved would never be so callous about another person's pain..."

"Person? That bitch is more of a monster than you are! She was going to kill Brynn and Connor! Our Pack!"

"Yours maybe, never mine! She was doing that because _I _asked her to! To protect you, Nora!"

He shook his head again.

"This is going nowhere. Take my advice Nora, Brynn isn't thinking straight now. You do _not_ want to piss off a coven of vampires led by some nut job who was locked away for centuries."

He pushed past her, wrenched open the door, and stalked out and then stopped. With a sigh he turned and extended his hand. _He _was the reason they were here. He had infected her, brought the McClean siblings into their lives, then compounded that cluster fuck by involving Cecilia. The very least he owed Nora was a way out of the madness.

"It doesn't have to be like this Nora. I'm still looking for a cure, come with me now, forget about Brynn. We can get through this together."

Nora shook her head


End file.
